Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 4:27 am
I am coming into this discussion late, but here are my 2 cents:
1. There is no evidence of men dominating humanity for any great length of time in terms of human existence. If you take prehistory into account--and most of human existence took place during prehistory--women dominated humanity for most of our existence. Men were drones... good for reproduction, hunting large game, and dying to defend the women and children. This is the time of the Great Goddess, which continued until approximately 3,000-5,000 years ago.
Even in the past 2,000 years, when the male-dominated warrior tribes who worshiped male sky gods took over most of Europe and Asia, male dominance wasn't complete. Women had leadership of the Iroquois 7 Nations Confederacy and were equal in the vast majority of First Nations in the Americas. It was the same in much of Africa. European colonialism changed women's roles in native society's and redefined them in the history books.
Cultural bias also comes into play when we look at anthropological descriptions of gender roles in all societies, from the prehistoric to our own. What race, religion, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political philosophy and citizenship does the observer claim? Many scholars will tell you straight out. The ones who don't are usually white guys from the US or Europe--as if that's the default setting for human. Bias is often unwitting--the Englishmen who didn't realize that the Chief they were negotiating with, who wore leather pants and carried weapons, was female, for example. The archaeologists who label all female figurines "unknown fertility figures" and all male ones, "votive God statues" are another.
2. Bree was commenting on a study that was covered in an Associated Press article. It was all over the Internet news sites last week. Part of Bree's homeschooling was to read science articles and discuss them. She is still trying to educate herself. The author of "Men are from Mars", John Gray, got his PhD from a mail order diploma mill. He is not a real expert on anything except being a con artist.
One thing scientists agree on is that there is greater variation within each gender than there is between each gender. Some women, like me, have very little upper body strength, while others are Olympic weight lifters and can out lift the average man or woman. My son's sensei is a tiny old lady and she could wipe the floor with every person here.
Bonus Penny: Do you know the strongest muscle in the human body? The uterus! Only women have one. I only used mine twice, though. Too bad we can't carry groceries with it. Then again, my youngest son still lives at home, and he's 6 foot tall and full of muscle, and willing to carry heavy objects for Mom.
1. There is no evidence of men dominating humanity for any great length of time in terms of human existence. If you take prehistory into account--and most of human existence took place during prehistory--women dominated humanity for most of our existence. Men were drones... good for reproduction, hunting large game, and dying to defend the women and children. This is the time of the Great Goddess, which continued until approximately 3,000-5,000 years ago.
Even in the past 2,000 years, when the male-dominated warrior tribes who worshiped male sky gods took over most of Europe and Asia, male dominance wasn't complete. Women had leadership of the Iroquois 7 Nations Confederacy and were equal in the vast majority of First Nations in the Americas. It was the same in much of Africa. European colonialism changed women's roles in native society's and redefined them in the history books.
Cultural bias also comes into play when we look at anthropological descriptions of gender roles in all societies, from the prehistoric to our own. What race, religion, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political philosophy and citizenship does the observer claim? Many scholars will tell you straight out. The ones who don't are usually white guys from the US or Europe--as if that's the default setting for human. Bias is often unwitting--the Englishmen who didn't realize that the Chief they were negotiating with, who wore leather pants and carried weapons, was female, for example. The archaeologists who label all female figurines "unknown fertility figures" and all male ones, "votive God statues" are another.
2. Bree was commenting on a study that was covered in an Associated Press article. It was all over the Internet news sites last week. Part of Bree's homeschooling was to read science articles and discuss them. She is still trying to educate herself. The author of "Men are from Mars", John Gray, got his PhD from a mail order diploma mill. He is not a real expert on anything except being a con artist.
One thing scientists agree on is that there is greater variation within each gender than there is between each gender. Some women, like me, have very little upper body strength, while others are Olympic weight lifters and can out lift the average man or woman. My son's sensei is a tiny old lady and she could wipe the floor with every person here.
Bonus Penny: Do you know the strongest muscle in the human body? The uterus! Only women have one. I only used mine twice, though. Too bad we can't carry groceries with it. Then again, my youngest son still lives at home, and he's 6 foot tall and full of muscle, and willing to carry heavy objects for Mom.
I would have bet good money that you're a twelve-year-old boy.